KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The Kansas City T-Bones (50-39) used four first inning runs and a quality start from Alex Blackford, to beat the Cleburne Railroaders (41-49) 4-2 Wednesday night  at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.  The  win secured a 2-1 series win the teams 18th series win this season.

The T-Bones jumped on Cleburne starter Patrick Mincey in the first with a lead off walk from Cedric Hunter and a single to right from Marcus Lemon to put runners at the corners. After  a strike out by Kevin Keyes for the first out Dexter Kjerstad singled to make it 1-0 Kansas City.

Newly signed shortstop Niko Vasquez, doubled to bring home Lemon and it was 2-0 T-Bones. Chantz Mack followed with an RBI single that scored two and it was 4-0.

From there Mincey put up zeros across the board and was joined by Blackford, who like wise kept the Railroaders bats cold. Cleburne did not get their first hit until the fourth inning as Blackford would work six giving up three hits and no runs.

Myles Smith worked a scoreless seventh, but Cleburne was able to score a pair off Jeff Walters in the eighth to cut the lead to 4-2. Cody Winiarski worked a scoreless ninth for his 18^th save while the win went to Blackford (1-1) with Mincey (8-8) getting the loss.

With the win the T-Bones stayed a half game behind Gary SouthShore in the American Association Wild Card race. Kansas City is off Thursday, while Gary is at Lincoln. Kansas City heads to Gary for an all-important three game weekend series beginning Friday night in Indiana. The T-Bones will be no worse than one game back with 11 games remaining.

With the win Kansas City hit the 50-win mark placing the club currently third all-time in franchise history in wins. It is the seventh straight season Manager Joe Calfapietra has reached the 50 win total for a season and the first year manager is two wins shy of 900 for his career.

After the off day Kansas City will travel to Gary, Indiana to face the RailCats on Friday night. Luis Paula is expected to get the start with Gary SouthShore a TBA. The game can be heard on the T-Bones Broadcast Network.

For additional information or interview requests, members of the media may contact the T-Bones Media Relations Department at 913-328-5639. Tickets are available online, by calling (913) 328-5618 or by visiting in person the Providence Medical Center Box Office.

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